Written by: Angham Adnan
I am Angham Adnan (a Sound Blogger, Trainer, and Cultural Activist) from Aden, Yemen. I have completed my Master’s preliminary studies with a focus on Literary and Cultural Studies.
I have produced many works across various fields, including nearly 30 songs, about 15 illustrated stories, and several articles and audio blogs. I also have two published books in the field of illustrated stories and two unpublished books in poetry and education.
Previously, I worked as the Managing Editor for the magazine Art and Heritage, as a Technical and Media Consultant with Samps Agency, and currently, I work as a Program and Activity Supervisor at the Adeni Cast platform. Additionally, I collaborate with UNESCO to launch Digitize Foundation, which focuses on digital empowerment in the arts and culture sectors.
In this section of the article, I will share my journey and the reason I joined the Missing Sounds and Rhythms project, as well as the role I played to ensure its outcome, which you will hear as the episode on Dafayer platform.
At first, I found the Missing Sounds and Rhythms program application to be an opportunity to seek answers to questions that had been on my mind. The issue of creative marginalization that Aden has faced in recent years, after once being a hub for art and a nurturing ground for talent from all over Yemen, had been recurring in my thoughts. The pre-production training was rich enough to push forward with documenting oral history and creating a podcast, alongside a group of expert trainers in the field.
Afterward, my colleague Walaa Al-Saadi and I began the production phase, starting with research and preparation, digging into the forgotten artistic memory by consulting books, resources, and asking the city’s elderly. We were able to reach the artist Akadib Yaseen Alu and convince her to give her first interview, where she shared her full personal experience and artistic journey from the beginning until her retirement.
Then came the scriptwriting phase, which was the hardest part for me. The artist was often scattered in narrating her history and memories, and I tried to apply all the information and skills we had learned in the training phase.
This phase (the training phase) coincided with a critical time due to the tense situation in the region, with Walaa and I being away from our homes due to travel. After the situation stabilized, we were finally able to finish and refine the episode after receiving the second phase of post-production training.
My role in the Missing Sounds and Rhythms project was as follows: (Research and preparation, coordinating the meeting, interviewing the artist, and writing the script)
